A New Life (PbP Game)

[Cmdr I. Heartly Noah]

Noah smiled inwardly, but he guessed he wasn't actually smiling. It was going to be hard adjusting to not being able to communicate emotion through his face. Like being in a mascot suit or performing in a mask - everything was going to be body language from here on out. And inflection, if he could ever work that out.

"I don't know. Ninety-five percent? All of it? It runs very quietly, doesn't it? In a sense - maybe none of it? I don't feel anything working inside."

[Lothmar]

"Heh, well at least goblins aren't simply a third class monstrous race waiting to throw themselves onto the swords of adventurers so they can make a quick steed it appears." He adds with a smile noting them in mingle with the elves and humans. "Though it may just be the area, cant get too comfortable I suppose." He adds grumpily. "Ah, well I prefer swimming in fresh water to salt anyway. In fact, unless im boating or inner tubing I tend to avoid real rivers for swimming as I prefer pools. But we were talking about currents, right..." He finds himself quickly getting distracted by another person.

"Oh man, where to start." He adds looking up at the sky and working with his fingers as if taking tally. "For Comics, im on the Megatokyo, nuklearpower, looking for group, Giant in the playground, erfworld, Rock paper cynic, applegeeks and truthfully scores of others but regardless I tend to use the same screen name no matter the forum. Hell dont even get me started on game site forums and persistent world forums for the various servers." He adds with a happy smile and a sigh as he continues walking completely omitting his screen name, not out of purpose or spite but sheer forgetfulness. 'Kind of a bit of irony I ended up as a goblin I suppose,' he thought to himself thinking of how people referenced his room as a 'cave' or 'dungeon'.

[malekith]

Kith slowly regained conciousness once again in the arms of the metal golem. He sighed relief and felt a lot better for it all. He just lay there for a moment trying to regain the feeling in his body, or rather his new body. Then he didn't move but only rolled his eyes for a minute taking in the surroundings. He saw the she-elf who more than likely saved him and smiled. She thought it was he that saved her, but Kith new in his heart that the equillibrium was definitely weighted so he got more than he had given.
Oddly enough just that glance warmed the inside of his body some more and Kith dreaded to think what that really meant. He then decided that whilst still cold and shakey the clothes and rest had healed him enough to at least walk on his own - not that he'd tell her that - and so he made a motion to the golem that he was awake and wanted to be put down.
Once on the ground (and leaning not too heavily on Lady) he finally saw the others that had been closing in on them the last time he was awake. Fear gripped him for a moment but the tension eased slowly to cautioness as he realised that he and Lady were still alive and that he'd heard other English voices. These were presumably their owners, and more than likely the other crash 'victims', However caution is more than likely the best action right now he thought to himself.
After taking in the sight of the village before him he asks:
"Would someone like to fill me in?"

[MuthSera]

She would marvel at it until someone distracted her.

You see great detail on the village walls. The overgrown portions extend the height of the palisade by another 5 feet. You can see fruit hanging on the trees growing out of the top of the palisade, in spite of the snow.

Chrono takes a deep breath and approaches the man holding the boy, trying to smile and not show many teeth at the same time. Hi... Hello., he glances at the man's face looking for signs of recognition, It seems you've been expecting us. Do you mind explaining what's going on?

He showed recognition as Chrono approached, then his face fell as Chrono began to speak. He didn't let the expression of disappointment last long on his face, replacing it quickly with a look of welcome, instead. His eyes looked up at Lady and he listened to her speaking for a moment, then patted the boy on the head and turned about to head back towards the village with the boy beside him.

The other villagers were holding blankets, and a couple had bows, although they were not drawn. They seemed very friendly. They approached, and then beaconed the party to follow them towards the village. A few made gestures for warming their hands in front of a fire.

Atop the palisade, on either side of the overgrown gate, a guard sat on a platform, shaded by a fruit tree, clearly grown in a place it never otherwise would. They both had bows. The villagers headed through the gate, towards the big house in the center of town. It looked reminiscent of an Indian long house, except architecturally it seemed more Nordic, and was overgrown in much the same way the palisade was. Many of the houses are untouched by the overgrowth.

[LadyBhaal]

"Welcome back Kith You had me worried there for a bit. Thank you so very much for sheltering me back there, I must make it up to you sometime. As for what happened you passed out just before Noah here" She motioned towards the warforged "and that young boy down there found us. Noah was carrying a set of apparently custom made furs for us, though on my haste to save myself and you I did not stop to check that I had the right ones. We've just come upon this township and I'm guessing language lessons will be needed before long. I wonder if this body wields a sword any worse than my old one used to"

Lady walked Kith down into the village along with the others marvelling at the architecture and trying to pay as much attention to their language as she could. "Yup, definitely a druid". If she gets the chance she'll apologise to the boy, and will follow the others into the long house if that happens

Spoiler: show

posted from The Gold Coast

[Cmdr I. Heartly Noah]

Noah set Kith on his feet, checked to make sure he wouldn't fall over, then followed the villagers inside the walled village.

Spoiler: show

Noah is going to follow the boy's father wherever he goes, and as soon as he can get the point across, he's going to try to begin learning their language, as this is the most important thing to do right now.

[Raigne]

Raigne vaguely registered a couple of the websites the goblin had rattled off (nuklearpower, looking for group, erfworld) but was too engrossed in her inspection of the city to really recognize them or to respond. She tried to figure out what fruit was growing from the wall, if the vines were reinforcing the structure to keep it from falling apart, or providing additional strength, how wide the village was... she also looked for signs of more civilization, like well worn roads, or church bells. She didn't notice that people were heading inside until she had dropped her eyes to inspect the crowd... and found that most of it was no longer there. She rushed to catch up, but would remain on the fringes of the group, within ear shot, but obviously trailing behind, too busy absorbing her surroundings to really pay attention to the people she had come here with, and too suspicious to take her eyes off everyone else.

[Lothmar]

"Wonder if they have someone with the comprehend languages spell, it is only first level." He added with a snort knowing full well this would probably not be anywhere near so convenient. Pausing to make a head count he waved over to Raigne who was trailing behind but mid call she was already kind of on her way there "Oye!" placing his hands on his hips he let out a small 'Harumph' as if disappointed that she had questioned him but didnt care enough to stay close enough to hear his entire spiel.

However with a simple shrug and a roll of his shoulders he felt better. "Meh, just another day in the life I always pretended to live I suppose." In fact, he actually felt a little more comfortable here then he did in a world where instant gratification was so readily available. "Always thought I belonged in another time. . . Then again I was always thinking more of a central Europe in a different season kind of thing, but this is good too." He added scratching his chin and getting a better feel for his surroundings.

With a smirk he elbows Raigne. "Hey, bet you one standard unit of the first currency we obtain there's some ancient prophecy in the big house that may or may not involve us. . . " He then held up his finger. "If they tell it to us in story format it's a draw, I only win if it's a big drawing on a rock side or it it's in a book or map." He tries his best to keep Raigne moving in the direction of the main hut, after all he was pretty hungry. "Come on, cant eat till everyone's present and all that and I skipped lunch!"

[Raigne]

Raigne jerked her head down as she was jabbed sharply in the side. She'd completely missed the goblin, below eye-level as he was. She quickly looked around, startled, and then rubbed her side. "Oh, right. Food. I was on my way to eat dinner when we..." When we what? Crashed but... where is my body? At the bottom of the mountain? In a hospital? What if no one finds me and I die? Am I already dead? "I'm sorry, did you say what you're name was? I must have missed it." She picks up her step, not wanting to make anyone wait, focusing more on following than looking around now, but still taking everything in.

[Lothmar]

"Oh No, you didnt miss it cause I havent given it yet;" He added with a bit of a laugh. "Ah name's yes. My Real name's Andrew, but I never really liked that plus it doesnt really fit a goblins body." He holds his finger to his lip for a moment. "Neither does the old classic tactic of combining middle name and street name, pet name or any combination; Timothy Monroe, next Hollywood star." He adds winking playfully and throwing up jazz hands, anyone who know's him thought would obviously know this is his nervous compensation reflex acting up. "Lothmar (Sounded with Lo-oath-Marr) is a regular character name of mine for fantasy games, but doesnt seem to scream 'goblin' to me. Nah, needs to be something simple maybe a bit barbaric. Like Vrishnak, no too orc. Roldo shortshanks! No, too halfling. Bah, guess i'll go with shortening lunk head to Lunk." He finally ends with a nod. "Yep, call me Lunk; New start deserves a new name." He adds with a smirk.

"And you Miss?" He'd make sure to finish up the conversation, put it on hold or at least lower his tone when they finally got to the hut.

[Raigne]

I recognize none of that. The subconscious doesn't invent things, only reshapes what is known. She knew it was probably futile to cling to the hope that she wouldn't be able to read a book without it changing on her, but that meant accepting that reality as she knew it was completely wrong. Everything she knew about how the world worked, what was tangible and ordered and what was imaginary and fleeting, was wrong.

"Umm. Maria. But online I go by Raigne. ((like rain, but it's actually an alternate spelling of reign)) There's uh... no special meaning behind it. I picked it off a list for a quickly rolled RP handle in a game, and ended up using the name mostly for socializing instead. I've been using it for about 10 years. It's my screen name everywhere. Well, except for one of my friends' WoW servers... only 4 servers with Raigne taken at the time, and my friend's had to be one of them..." She trailed off there, but the last sentence would seem to have the weight of an old rant behind it.

"Do you mind if I still call you by Lothmar or Andrew? Lunk... just sounds like onomatopoeia to me... like if I called you pop or whiz or boom... or something. Why does Lothmar sound familiar, now?

[Lothmar]

"Ooo, actually Boom isnt half bad." He adds contemplating. "I do like fire and explosions. Hmm oh no not at all," He adds in reference to her request to call him by his name or normal handle. "guess it's better to earn a nickname anyway." He adds with a hint of a smile one of his lower fangs sticking out from behind his lips. "Glad to see there's some life and wit left in that shell, some of you guys seemed a bit shell shocked."

[Raigne]

Raigne smirks. "Who's joking? Maybe we're all dead. Personally, I'm not convinced you aren't all in my head." Lothmar, Lothmar, Lothmar. Where is that name from. I don't recognize it from my usual sites. Wait. He said... erfworld? "Did you say you read Erfworld?" Is that where I got all the names from? Or the idea that I've suddenly ended up in a fantasy world? I need a book, Now. Or a clock. The smile disappeared as she started looking around for signage, or a newspaper in the street. Anything with writing on it.

[Lothmar]

"Ah like Riverworld eh, didnt think you were the type to believe in reincarnation. . . Says the white anglosaxon who's now a pygmy south american cro-magnon man. But seriously all in 'your' head? A bit conceited there eh? A wee bit self involved? Maybe just a scootch to;" He adds motioning with his hands and squeezing his thumb and pointer finger together. "Uhm yeah. Yep I mentioned Erfworld alright. Figured we'd moved onto more serious topics but alright."

[Raigne]

That's where it's from. I haven't been a member long but that's got to be where I've seen it. "Same premise. In one place one minute, in another place the next. Except this fantasy setting is real-time as far as we know. And yes, my head. I wouldn't have free will if I were in someone else's. Or maybe I only think I have free will..." Her eyes shifted around quickly, as though maybe she were trying to catch something she could only see out of the corner of her eye. She was getting anxious and jumpy. She crossed her arms and went silent.

[MuthSera]

The boy walked along side the man who held him against him with an arm around his shoulder. They entered the long house, followed by several of the villagers and Noah, and then the rest of the newcomers.

The inside of the long house was a different environment entirely. The overgrowth on the outside was almost a jungle inside. Plants and trees grew up towards the pinnacle of the ceiling, where it almost seemed bright sunshine was shining through. (Despite it being twilight, outside.)

The villagers moved into the middle of the long house, tending to favor the side with the door on it, because at the far end, a giant flower bud twisted about, and then bloomed, revealing a radiantly beautiful woman, covered in dress-like garment made of maple leaves and flowers. She stood up, and the plants around her reached for her feet. Within a 5 foot radius around her, the plants became excited and seemed to sway and dance and lean towards her. She radiated divinity like a flame radiates heat.

She looked through the villagers at the newcomers, beyond. A tension built, but was relieved again as she grew closer to the villagers. It was like night and day. As she grew closer, negative emotions were rather suddenly halted. It was palpable, sudden, and overwhelming. It was easy to know that it was because of her presence. The villagers stepped aside as she approached, and so did the boy. As she grew nearer to him, he clutched the symbol around his neck very tightly, his knuckles going white.

She stopped and turned to him. The boy looked up at her, his eyes sore and red. He glanced over at Lady, then back up at the avatar in front of him. The woman knelt down and looked into his eyes. When she spoke, it was like a gushing ocean of prismatic sound poured fourth. Thousands of words, and meanings. The sound was muchly like singing, but as one listened to it, it became less like noise, and one heard meaning, instead.

"----There is no need to cry. Her spirit is in a wonderful place, now, I promise."

The boy clenched his fist tighter around the symbol and stared back into the avatar's eyes, "cor moa.. cor moa obv...!" He glanced at Lady again, his eyes filled with a rage that was impossible to hide.. then the avatar sighed.. the boy continued to speak, his voice came through gritted teeth. "Din guy?! Mern kao la mai fet fin??"

"Your mother is NOT dead..! She's not gone!" The boy shook. "Cor moa OBV!" he shouted again, interrupting her.

There was a silence. The avatar seemed thoughtful, and none of the villagers dared to interrupt their exchange.

"She made a grand and beautiful sacrifice. And so have you. Perhaps you are too young for me to be testing your faith as I have been." She sighed and the boy rubbed at his eyes. She spoke again to him, only to say, "I'm sorry."

The boy said nothing for many moments. He then just nodded his head to the avatar. "Abudo." His grip on the symbol about his neck relaxed, and fell. He continued to rub at his eyes with his sleeve.

The Avatar turned from the boy. "You all have questions. I have answers for your questions."

[chrono]

Spoiler: show

I hate you guys, 90% of the posting is done when I sleep. I answer the posts in the order of reading (instead of after I've read all of it).

Goddamnit, quit being all mystical and give me answers, chrono thought as the man walked away. I bet you're going to the friggin log house in the sky... Great, it figures.

When Lothmar speaks, chrono gives the goblin a wide smile and says:
"You're on, little man. We don't seem to be treated like chosen ones at all, more like we stumbled into somebody's... well... body. I don't expect much in the way of legend, let alone mystical writings in a rock."
Not wanting to speculate about what might have happened to the said "somebody", chrono's voice trails off.

Chrono raises his hands to the sky in a "oh give me a break" gesture.
Raigne, would you please leave the theories for when you have at least a little bit of backing? Yes, sure, maybe we're dead, and maybe we're in fantasy fairy elf land where we're immortals who can only be killed by a dark spell which ends with uttering our true name. Too bad for the ones who already shared theirs.

As they went into the long house, chrono couldn't help thinking no kidding, a real fairy godmother.

As the woman spoke, Chrono gave the others a quick glance and took a step forward. He just couldn't bear another round of "are we dead", "are we in my head", "do we have first level spells" and all that. Alright, he spoke with a polite but firm tone, the questions are "what", "why" and "where", in that order. Please assume we don't know a thing about this place and what's going on and go from there. I suppose it will take a while...

[Raigne]

Spoiler: show

I would appreciate it if you could make an effort to respond in the order we posted, rather than you read (is it hard to read in order?), since I should be no where near the group during my exchange with Lothmar.

It doesn't bother me any more. I should be bothered that it doesn't bother me. It should scare me that I can't control something as simple as how I feel here. Why is a ten year old boy allowed to be angry, but not me? "I'd also like to know how. Before why and where, preferably." She would eye the holy symbol around the boy's neck when his hand dropped, trying to figure out if she recognized it.

[chrono]

How? HOW?? What difference does it make?

Chrono glared at the interruption, then stepped toward Raigne and whispered with an urgent tone.

Look, that's honestly the most useless information we can ask for - haven't you heard about this man who recently tried to build a simple toaster from nothing, starting at the very beginning - mining the ore, extracting oil, smelting, etc... It took him many months to realize that even if he succeeded - which was very unlikely and could take years - in the meantime he was sustained by modern food, used modern transportation and needed modern tools for a few things like the smelting.
The point is, humanity as we know it has been a victim of division of labor for the last few hundreds of years - collectively we can launch a probe to Mars, fight disease and do genetic engineering, but a single individual is unable to reproduce even simple things on his own. So what good is the knowledge "how" - technology, magic or divine intervention - why do we care when we can't put it into practice?

Chrono frowned at Raigne, then turned and gave their host an almost apologetic look.
Darnit, if it was easy enough for us to do, we'd know how to do it, wouldn't we? I hope we can get around to actually getting some useful information with all the silliness going on.

[MuthSera]

The woman nodded when chrono asked his questions, pausing when Raigne asked hers. "Fair enough." She didn't bother to wait for chrono to stop ranting before beginning her explanation. Her voice could be heard over it, easily. "Your souls have been brought to this plane, to inhabit the bodies of these 6 individuals you've become. They were chosen, and they accepted. They were chosen because they would accept."

She turned to Raigne, and began answering her question, next. "My goddess, Spring, bartered for your souls. Nobody has died, yet." She held out her hands and an illusion sprang into being. The cars were visible seemingly frozen in time, floating above the ground. "But your souls were very ready to leave your bodies, when they were gathered for the journey here. When they arrived, they were infused into the bodies of these several individuals."

She turned back to chrono. "As for why..." She waved a hand and the illusions wafted away like smoke. She replaced them with another. It was a planet. Unremarkable, except that most of the land is white, with snow. "We've lost our greatest champion, and our cause grows desperate. The planet is locked in winter, and my goddess's grip on this world weakens as her followers starve, are killed, or give up faith. A powerful, coordinated assault lead to the destruction of a very special tree, and the theft of a very special crystal. This tree provided life to the now dying forests. This crystal allowed for the stabilization of this tree, and a link for the goddess between this world and her own home. These fiends have stolen the goddess's gift to the world, and have corrupted it. Around the fortress where they keep the stone, winter now prevails. Creatures are sapped of their strength as they approach the fortress. Spring cannot see there. I can't see how anything could be alive inside that stone's expanding influence. But why you? You're souls are very special. Mm. You contain a special knowledge of the very inner workings of this place, that rivals even the goddess's. Where you're from, this is not even all that uncommon. You don't think like any of her champions, because of this. Your souls are also.. " she pauses.. "... More robust. My goddess noticed the first of it's kind, here." Her eyes glanced to the boy. "Surely he would be her champion some day. But right now, he's just a boy."

She finally moved to Chrono's final question. "But what is here? Here is another place. It's not Earth. It's a place closer than the stars, but harder to reach. It's a place brought into being by gods of your world. You all know places like this one, but have never been here before. This village? This plane? You will know it, with time. This village? For a short time it will be your home. It's named Hana."